Well this is news. And to be honest, given the abuse, exploitation, and general cult nastiness I have heard about committed by the Brahma Kumaris, I am not at all surprised someone snapped. I am curious though as to exactly what his beef is with the Brahma Kumaris. The articles mention it in passing (I've provided quotes below), but do not give details. That is the aspect I'm particularly interested in. Related - it's disappointing to see the Brahma Kumaris doomsday cult so often referred to as a religious organisation.

Miss Bailey also told the court how Finch had sprayed the word 'evil' across the shop window on October 19, before the arson attack, and that he had carried out a similar attack on a woman in Kelvedon Hatch, whom he had met at a meditation centre in Ilford. ...Gavin Burrall, defending, told the court how Finch felt 'somewhat aggrieved' by the Brahma Kumaris religious organisation. ... "Anxiety due to his personal relationship and debt brought him to think of things from the past and carry out these offences."

Investigating officer Dc Dan Bennington, of Chelmsford CID, said: “Finch was named by the victims as someone who may have an issue with the Brahma Kumaris Spiritual University, but they had not been in contact with him for 15 to 20 years.

AN EX-MEMBER of a religious group jailed for a revenge campaign of arson attacks against them because he later considered them a 'cult' deserved every day of his sentence, judges ruled.

Stephen Finch, 53, had been a follower of the Brahma Kumaris movement, but came to believe the group had ruined his life.

After leaving the group in 1997, it was 17 years later he decided to take revenge on two members, targeting the Inner Space meditation centre in Gloucester Avenue, Chelmsford, a hub for the Brahma Kumaris Spiritual University, and a house in Brentwood. He pleaded guilty to two reckless arsons and two counts of religiously aggravated criminal damage and was jailed for five years at Chelmsford Crown Court last July.

Two months later, he committed suicide. The report into his death by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman is attached below.